Montana judge gives Stacey Rambold, former high school teacher, 30 days for statutory rape.
Prosecutors asked for a 20-year sentence with 10 years suspended, court documents show. But the judge followed the recommendation of the defense, which called for a sentence of 15 years, with all but 30 days suspended.
A judge in Billings, Mont. apologized publicly Wednesday for comments he made while giving Stacey Rambold, a former high school teacher, a 30-day sentence for the rape of a 14-year-old student who later took her own life. Many saw the sentence as too lenient, and Judge G. Todd Baugh's comments as insensitive.
The victim killed herself shortly before her 17th birthday, which made prosecuting Rambold more difficult. State attorneys agreed to dismiss charges if Rambold completed a treatment program for sex offenders. He was sentenced earlier this week after he failed to complete the program.
"I don't know what I was thinking or trying to say," Baugh told The Billings Gazette. "It was just stupid and wrong." . . .
Baugh said Wednesday morning he regrets the statements he made during the court hearing. He also submitted a letter to the editor for publication in The Gazette, stating he is "not sure just what I was attempting to say, but it did not come out correct."
"What I said is demeaning of all women, not what I believe and irrelevant to the sentencing," Baugh said in the letter. "My apologies to all my fellow citizens."
Baugh told a reporter he believes the 30-day jail sentence was appropriate given the nature of the case. He likened the hearing Monday to a probation violation in which a defendant is re-sentenced for violating terms of a suspended sentence.
As he did Monday in court, Baugh said Wednesday he believes the violations of the deferred prosecution agreement between Rambold and state prosecutors were not serious enough to warrant a lengthy prison term.
